THE MAGAZINE SUMMER 2011 - PrivatAir

IMAGE�©�PHILADELPHIA�MUSEUM�OF�ART
MANY�OF�THE�WORLD’S�GREATEST�MUSEUMS�AND�PUBLIC�
art galleries owe their existence to the generosity of individual
benefactors over the last two centuries. It is heartening to fi nd that
nowadays, when there is such a concentration of offi cial resources on
the contemporary, there are still individuals and organisations willing
to safeguard the masterworks of the past. Two recent instances are
particularly encouraging.
In 2009 the Philadelphia Museum of Art proudly unveiled its latest
acquisition, a full set of armour for a horse and its rider, made for Duke
Ulrich of Württemberg at the beginning of the 16th century by two of
the greatest of all the great armourers working in Nuremberg, centre of
the industry. Making the announcement, Timothy Rub, the museum’s
CEO, said: ‘Th e museum has always wanted to have an extraordinary
horse armour to augment our holdings of European arms and armour,
but fi nding one has been an especially elusive quest, given the
exceptional rarity of this type of object.’
Rare indeed. Th e monumental horse armour, created in 1507 by
Wilhelm von Worms the Elder, the most famous armourer of his day, and
entirely made of steel plates enriched with delicately etched and gilded
fi gures of a dragon and noblewomen, is the only example to have become
available in 45 years, and one of only a handful of such an early date still
in existence. Th e accompanying man armour, created around 1505 by
Matthes Deutsch in Landshut, is one of under a dozen complete, or near
complete, fi eld armours of that period to have survived. It is Deutsch’s
latest known work and his most richly decorated.
Th e Philadelphia Museum is one of the largest in the United States,
and accordingly well endowed, but the $7.2m needed to secure the
armours came not from funds but from individuals Athena and Nicholas
Karabots and the Karabots Foundation, who made this acquisition
possible. Nicholas G Karabots is the son of Greek immigrants who
moved to the United States from Sparta shortly after World War I and
ran a successful restaurant business. When this was wiped out, his father
became a waiter and his wife a seamstress, while their son contributed by
working as a shoe-shine boy. Karabots Jnr later got a job with a printing
fi rm and, following the American dream, worked his way up to become
its owner. He then bought one of the fi rm’s best clients, the Kappa
Publishing Group, which specialises in children’s activity books, puzzle
magazines and games. In graceful acknowledgement of his ancestral roots,
he has called his umbrella company Spartan Organization, Inc.
Th e foundation that he set up with his wife also grew out of his early
experiences, since the prime purpose is to better the chances for ‘youth in
underserved communities and families within those communities’.
Twenty-Three
Naturally, reading and education are key to this. Two of the biggest
donations were $15m for a new paediatric care unit at the Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia, and $4.4m to renovate and expand the William
Jeanes Memorial Library in Whitemarsh Township, PA, where they have
lived for over 50 years. Th eir hope is that it will become ‘an even broader
community centre and are further hopeful that its updating and
expansion will encourage more children and adults to come to learn’.
Surprising as it might seem at fi rst glance, the $15m donated to
purchase the armours does fi t the pattern. As Nicholas Karabots says:
‘Th e Foundation was moved by the interest shown in the Arms and
Armour Collection by children and young adults, and it is the
Foundation’s hope that the addition of the horse and man armour to the
existing collection will result in the development of programmes at the
museum that will further interest and encourage these young people to
pursue higher levels of self-improvement via advanced education.’
Th e deal was actually brokered by an Englishman, Peter Finer, who is
perhaps the world’s foremost dealer in antique arms and armour. Based in
a Warwickshire manor house and a St James’s shop, Finer is a well-known
‘Th e museum has always wanted to have an extraordinary suit of horse
armour but finding one has been an especially elusive quest ’
exhibitor at the most prestigious international antiques fairs, and almost
all serious collectors are on his client list. Th e armours were once part of
the collection of the Counts Breuner-Enckevoirt and subsequently of the
Dukes of Ratibor at Schloss Grafenegg in Austria, where they were
exhibited together as a complete equestrian fi gure. In 1933 they were sold
to the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst who, confronted
with fi nancial diffi culties, subsequently parted with them; thereafter the
ensemble remained in private hands until Finer purchased them in 2008.
He had been on their track for years, and was determined that they
should go to the best of homes. To this end, knowing the museum’s
ambition, he brought it together with the foundation.
A second tale of cultural philanthropy comes from England
and this spring. In the words of Th e Wealth Report: ‘At a time when
seemingly everyone in fi nance is considered evil, and the wealthy
are painted as universally avaricious and self-interested, the story
of Jonathan Ruff er bears reading.’
Jonathan Ruff er is an investment manager who made a fortune by
predicting the credit crunch. He is also a most civilised man who
collects paintings and 78rpm records, an elegant writer and now a
considerable benefactor to his native North-East of England, having
prevented the Church of England from selling off some of the greatest
paintings in the region to plug a hole in its fi nances. Th ey would
otherwise have gone abroad after 250 years in a place for which they
had historic as well as artistic importance. As a state church, the Church